CanadianBakin'

An onion tart made in a rectangle with a puff pastry base is always welcome. While preparing desserts for an event I also discovered that plain puff pastry is awesome dipped in homemade caramel sauce. I used that discovery recently at an appetizer party. Brought a bowl of caramel sauce, made twirly sticks out of puff pastry and added a number of other things to the plate for dipping. It was a hit!

I hate to tell you Andrew but no one is irreplaceable. I'm not a chef and don't work in the food industry as such so I can't give an opinion on the topic at hand but I do know that no one's job is secure no matter how invaluable they feel or think they are to a company.

That looks and sounds delicious!!!

No grill pans at The Bay downtown. They said they don't carry them. Does anyone know which Bay has them? Ming Wo wasn't convenient today but I might have to give them a try.

I'll be downtown tomorrow so I'll try to get to the Bay between appointments. I checked the Bay here in Abbotsord but they don't stock Le Creuset at all.

You could check out Wendy's blog for inspiration. She's the only pastry chef at the country club where she works and has to do displays all the time.

No oven mitts for me. I burned myself too many times when I was younger between my thumb and index finger while wearing oven mitts to ever want to try them again. I always use a folded up dish towel.

Becca, how did you like the Cardinal slice? It looks great!

I've been wanting to try making croissants for quite awhile and had some time without children this weekend so I took advantage of it. I was absolutely thrilled with how the dough turned out but I think I proofed them too long and they ended up quite flat. I did half with chocolate and half with the almond filling. I found a video online by the author of the recipe which is quite helpful. I still have half the dough left which I have frozen so I will try again in a couple weeks. My husband loved them as is and they did taste good but I also want them to look good. Practice makes perfect and my tasters certainly don't mind. edited to add link to Esther's video with Julia.

I did notice Henckels at Home Sense in Abbotsford. I don't recall how many men were on the handle though.

I've had a Le Creuset "Grillit" (UK) for a while now. And had no problem at all using it on a glass ceramic top (induction). I have a (Le Creuset) pot lifter - its like an oven glove for the handle - that works nicely (as long as you grip it!) Weight is an important consideration for some people, and lifting it with a loose handle cover might be more of a worry - depending on the strength and confidence of the user. After grilling/searing, its easy to to pop the whole loaded pan into a warm oven, for example to 'rest' steak. Which one might be more reluctant to do with a longer, non-metal handle. The LC Grillit has an enamelled exterior and an unglazed interior. The trick is to treat it like a wok and just wash it very gently (don't scrub it), so that you build up a 'patina' on the inside. Oh, and oil the food, not the pan... My big round one takes up a lot of cupboard space. I've wondered if the rectangular (2 trout size?) one might be slightly better. ← Thanks for addressing those questions.

If you have Baking Illustrated I think they list an internal temperature. I'll try to remember to look it up later for you unless someone else beats me to it.

What size of sheet pans are you using?

Thanks for your input. It's the grill pan I want most, the panini press is just an added bonus so a panini appliance isn't an option this time. I have looked at some like the Lodge pans but the enamelled ones just look so much nicer as a gift and it doesn't look like Lodge has an enamel grill pan.

I'm looking into buying a cast iron grill pan with panini press for someone for Christmas. Since they are a bit costly I'm trying to do my research and make sure I get the best product. There is a huge difference in price between Le Creuset and Batali. Is Le Creuset worth the price or is it just the name? The descriptions are very similar, size about the same, materials the same. Two things I noticed; Le Creuset specifies it is not for ceramic/glass tops which this person has although if they are basically the same product then why is the Batali one ok for this use. Second, the Batali one specifies that the handles are very hot and you must always use an oven mitt. I couldn't find any info about this on Le Creuset. It seems to me that would be pretty inconvenient when handling a pan that heavy but having never used one I could be wrong. Can anyone give some insight into these two products? edited for spelling - sorry, can't change the title

I've looked at the Batali one as well and having never used either I don't know if one is as good as the other. I'm going to post in the Cooking forum to see if anyone has used both.

This Panini Grill and Press is available at the Bay department store for $129.99. I saw it in the Persimmon Orange, I didn't check for other colours. ← Best price I've seen yet. Thanks!

I had to google that one. It sounds delicious and I'm sure your mom will enjoy it!

A chicken would be fine as well. My husband's family (who are Brits) prefer pork roast for holiday dinners, some prefer ham. I think as long as all the fixings are the same it will still be appreciated. Stuffing, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, etc.

But these won't be shiny like the ones I glazed. Is there a way to get shiny ones consistently that won't pull out your fillings?

What a great site Brian!! I hadn't checked it out for quite awhile. I so wish I lived even within an hour of your shop. What a great selection!!

I've found humidity is a killer though. I glazed a whole bunch of pecans to use as garnish on plated desserts for an event and I wish I could have had a warning that they were decoration only. One bite and your teeth were terribly stuck together. Not a pleasant experience. I'm pretty sure I just dipped them in sugar that had been cooked till amber. Perhaps that's not the best way to do them. They look beautiful so if there's a better way to do this I'd love to know.

I've had some Israeli couscous in my cupboard for quite awhile now and I'm really not sure what to do with it. I bought it because I had it at a work dinner in a Greek type salad which was very good. How do you use it? Any good recipes? Doesn't have to be salad, could easily be a hot dish too.

I'd cut it into chunks and warm it up. Put it in individual bowls, top with a scoop of vanilla icecream and a good drizzle of homemade caramel sauce. Mmmmmm...

I can't help at all with where to go but there are definitely foods I'm looking forward to because the weather is cooler. Nothing newsbreaking just good fall food. I love the rich flavours of vegetables that are now available, when they are roasted... different squashes, yams, parsnips, etc. And the wonderful array of apples are awesome with these as well. I love beef braised in some of BC's great wines. It seems to me autumn is about rich colours and flavours. A great time to use some of the more traditional spices like cloves, cardamon, cinnamon, etc. Desserts that use oatmeal. These are some of the flavours I look forward to. Hopefully some of our more experienced diners will add to this.